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I painted my gauge pods and door handle things with plasti dip. It looks just like oem.
Oh and btw, I removed my gauge pods from the dash lol. I didn't find this thread until after. They still went back in and hold nicely. No gaps or anything..
I've got an extra console for my '08, and I resprayed it with what I think is better quality paint than the usual Krylon or Duplicolor. SEM makes professional quality interior paints, and I used a 2-part system. Base coat is #16243 Satin Black, with a top coat of #13023 Low Luster Clear. Spent ~$25 shipped from Summit Racing, but I think this finish will be far more durable and easier to clean than a single-layer system.
+1 for the SEM branded products, I have used their stuff for years, it holds up and looks great.
my cubby was pretty seriously scratched and the guage pods had a bit of scratching as well so i decided to repaint them. This guide is to show you how to remove the necessary pieces in order to repaint them and retain the ping pong paddle texture. The result turned out looking just about identical to stock.
Here's what my scratched pieces looked like.
did you use the primer at all?? Or just the paint and then the clear/?? Thanks
For anyone using the SEM paint, can you specify whether it matches the OEM finish? I've done some research in older threads and for the arm rest area(where the window switches are) along with the small door handle area someone used SEM ColorCoat in Satin Black with no clearcoat and it came out looking nice. Will this be durable not to chip and scratch or does it need a clear on it?
For the center console area, dcains used the same SEM ColorCoat in satin black with a low luster clear coat. does this look OEM or not?
I was planning on just washing the center console without sanding or primer. But for the door area i was planning to use 90% rubbing alcohol because I have heard it comes off very easy. Also will buy a small carbon steel cup brush dremel attachment to take off any hard parts from the door handles. In a previous post, a guy had posted a video of him taking off the finish very easily with it.
I would like to use the Duplicolor vinyl and interior paint but people seem to love SEM's quality and durability. I'd like to do this once and not have to touch it again. If i have listed or said anything wrong can someone please correct me.
I would like to know if anyone has tried baking soda blasting on these interior trim pieces. If so, how well does it work? Does any of the underlying plastic get deformed?
Sanding this OEM paint is a lengthy and tedious process. If you do the center dash/cubby, I don't want to ruin the ping pong texture with sand paper.
-Icer
Did this last weekend in my 04 roadster. I put 3 to 4 very light coats of the vinyl paid to the OP used and it covers scratches very well. Main thing is hold the can 10 or 12 inches away and spray lightly with about 10 minutes between coats. It looks brand new now. All I did was wash everything good and paint. I also cleared over mine. It came out pretty glossy, but it looks nice against the rest of the light tan dash.
Sorry to revive a very old threat but I did this project and now the dash has some bubbling of the paint, any change I can just repaint or am I going to have remove all the old pain and start over? Not sure why it bubbled the car is in the garage when I am not driving it and I only drive it about 5000 miles a year. I did the project about 3 years ago.
Bubbling usually means the base coat (original surface paint) was not sterilized enough. If the interior was treated with the UV resistant glossy detail stuff like Armor All or Lexol Vinylex, extra special care needs to be taken during the surface preparation. A thorough wash with grease cutting soap and alcohol is in order before spraying.
Another potential cause is mixing two types of paints. Certain types won't mix properly and bubbling may occur. I know from personal experience that Rust-Oleum spray paints won't mix well with Duplicolor or Krylon (Enamel vs. Acrylic).
The Rust-Oleum Flat Black spray paint matches the OEM black interior near perfectly. Rust-Oleum is very durable and shouldn't chip/scratch easily. But it takes much longer to fully cure. I would wait a minimum of 48 hours before handling or re-installing the pieces.
I had a terrible experience with Duplicolor plastic/vinyl spray paints. The cans ran out way to fast, there were inconsistencies (color blotches) in the color once the can started getting low (25~50% capacity), and they are more expensive. I didn't experience any of these issues with Rust-Oleum. You just have to wait a really long time for Rust-O to cure.
Here is a picture of what mine looks like I took the bubbles off what I need to know is can I just pain over this or am I going to have to strip all the paint off and then paint it.
No need to strip the paint off unless you want to, but I wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep the dotted texture. Just do a thorough cleaning, use a very soft abrasive on the surface to help the paint stick (could be skipped I suppose, a delicate hand is needed for this because of the infamous "ping-pong" texture), then do a final cleaning before shooting the new paint.
You can get surface prep. cleaning solutions (sometimes called wax remover) from auto parts stores like O'Reilly's or Autozone. But I think all these bottles contain is soap and water. A good dish soap with warm water would work just as well. Then following up with some diluted isopropyl (50/50 or 70/30). I use a clean microfiber for cleaning (250-300gsm), you don't want lint/dust getting on the surface you're about to paint!
What type of surface preparation have you done already prior to your first coats of paint? The main issue I have seen with these is that the factory black paint is sort of like a wax. Light pressure with a finger nail will peel it off. The main thing I noticed while I was repainting my armrest switch panels was that the gray paint underneath is a high gloss. Primer shouldn't be like that! This tells me Nissan or their sub-contracted painting partner messed up big time! Paint won't stick properly to a high gloss surface.
What I'm getting at is, your top coat will only stick as well as the bottom layers do.
If you use a very soft abrasive, the new paint should cover the scuff marks and hopefully the areas where the bubbling occurred after a full 3 coats are applied. But if you feel the risk is not worth it, just skip the scuffing step and do a thorough cleaning. Personally, I would avoid scuffing the surface and see how well the paint holds up without it. It looks like other forum members have had good success by just sterilizing the surface and shooting paint after everything is clean & dry.
-Icer
I didn't really do any prep it was like 5 years ago that I originally did this I may have just washed the pieces. I don't mind painting over the pieces my only concern is that the areas where the the paint bubbled up and has peeled off will look strange. I think I will scuff up just the area with the paint bubbles and then wash everything very well and do the alcohol prep then paint it I might even use a few coats of primer or a paint adhering substances. thank you for you help.
Okay guys where are you getting the adhesion promoter I can't seem to find it. I am getting ready to repaint my dash and really want to use this also I see different types of paint everyone is using some are using the vinyl and fabric paint and others are using something else. Can I get away with just using a gloss black from rusteoleum or krylon?
Thank you for this post- made my roadster look brand new!
Before
After
Bought this car recently and the previous owner dealt with the **** paint by sharpie-ing over it lol. Not going to fly with me! Used the same paint BTarb24 had suggested which matched perfectly. I used an 800 grit sandpaper sponge and the ping pong texture held up perfectly! Note: To take the shifter bezel off of an automatic you need to stick a small pry bar under the edge of the silver piece and lift up gently. If you're having troubles- you can do the same to the black piece underneath it (there are clips by the hazard button and in the front middle). The silver piece comes apart easily once you have that piece out. Also, you'll have to put the car in neutral to be able to get to the ribbon cord and remove it. Another note- the little enclosure latch on the door can be taken out without having to take out the springs- just pry it open a bit and wedge a screwdriver in there. (Be careful not to pry too hard). I was careful to wear gloves, sand well, clean each piece thoroughly, prime, give light coats of the paint, and let everything completely dry before adding more. The paint was really easy to work with and has held up very nicely so far. Refinished my door panels as well. Took about a day and $30 to finish- sooo worth it.
Thank you!!
Last edited by miss.tayler; 08-16-2018 at 01:19 PM.
I finally just broke down and had a friend from a local VQ club paint my parts turned out great he is a professional autobody painter so better than I could have done.
10-01-2014, 06:32 AM
Thank you for this post- made my roadster look brand new!
